Rolling mill repeater



Nov. 6, 1956 M. MORGAN 2,769,356

ROLLING MILL REPEATER I Filed Jan. 3l, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet l ,pas

ATTORNEY Nov. 6, 1956 M. MORGAN 2,769,356

ROLLING MILL REPEATER Filed Jan. 51, 1955 5 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR. MYLES MORGAN ATTORNEY M. MORGAN ROLLING MIYLL REPEATER Nov. 6, 1956 Filed Jan. 3l, 195.5

5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. 'mg/Zes mov-gan Nov. 6, 1956 M. MORGAN 2,769,356

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ROLLING MILL REPEATER Filed Jan. 51, 1955 5 sheets-sheet 5 INVENTOR. myles v771 owja-n` wwwa H o'r'ney ROLLING MILL REPEATER Myles Morgan, Worcester, Mass., assignor to Morgan Construction Company, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application January 31, 1955, Serial No. 485,037

1 Claim. (Cl. 84)*51) This invention relates generally to rolling mills and more particularly to a rolling mill arrangement for selectively producing rod and merchant bar.

This patent application is a continuation, in part of the copending patent application of Myles Morgan, Serial Number 310,377 filed September 19, 1952, now abandoned.

In the operation of a rod and merchant mill, it is possible to make use of a considerable number of stands which are common to both the rod and the merchant bar. That is to say, the roughing and intermediate stands are the same irrespective of whether the product is rod or merchant bar. However, while rod must be passed through finishing stands and formed into coils for handling, the merchant bar needs no further rolling and is either coiled or passed onto a cooling bed after which it is .cut into straight lengths for handling, For that reason, it has been the'practice to pass the merchant bar straight forward after it leaves the intermediate stands which, of course, are the nishing stands so far as the merchant bar is concerned, and passes over a runout table Vonto a cooling bed. At the same time, the rod-finishing stands are situated at the sides of the runout table along with the reels for ceiling the rod. The mill is operated to produce either rod or merchant bar in accordance with the trade demand and, very often, it is necessary to change from one to the other within a very short time. The difficulty which has been experienced in the past with such a mill is that, although it would be Very desirable to be able to run merchant bar while the rolls in the rod-finishing stands are being changed, it is either not possible or is possible only with ditlculty. This is because the changing of the rolls in the rod-finishing stands requires that the workers be able to move over-a large area around these stands and that they be able to move back and forth across the area occupied by the merchant bar runout table. The present invention obviates this and other limitations on the prior art devices in a novel manner.

It is therefore an outstanding object of the present invention to provide a rolling mill for the alternate production of rod and merchant bar which will permit the changing of rolls and like operations on the rod-linishing stands while merchant bar is being produced.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of a rolling mill having a merchant bar runout table leading by means of a special repeater, to a cooling bed and rod-iinishing stands and reels on opposite sides of the runout table, wherein an unobstructed floor extends between 4the finishing stands.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an arrangement of roll stands and associated apparatus for the various successive operations of rolling rods and bars that permits very flexible selection of product.

' A further object of the present invention is the provision of a combination rod and merchant mill which is so arranged and constructed that changes in product may take place with very little loss in rolling time.

iarent O ice Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a novel and useful combination and arrangement of rolling mill apparatus, which adapts itself most advantageously to the production, as required, of rods or of merchant bar, and by which the utmost selectivity of disposal in the handling of either or both of these rolled products, is obtained. l

Although the novel features which are believed to be characteristic .of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claim appended thereto, the invention itself, as lto its objects and advantages, the mode of its operation and the manner of its organization may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with .the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a rolling mill embodying the prinCples of the instant invention,

Figure 2 is a sectional View of the .mill taken on the line 2 2 of Figure l and somewhat enlarged,

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the apparatus embodying the principles of the present invention,

Figure 4 is a plan View of the apparatus shown in Figure 3,

Figure 5 is an enlarged View of a portion of the apparatus shown in Figure 3,

Figure 6 is a View taken along .the line Vl-VI thereof,

,and

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on the line VII-VII of Figure Il.

Referring first to Figure 1, wherein are best shown the general features of ,the invention, the mill, indicated generally by the reference `character 10, is shown as consisting of a furnace 1l .for .the heating of billets and consisting/of pinch rolls 1 2 for withdrawing the heated billets from the furnace.V Following 'the pinch rolls is a switch 13 for guiding a billet into the proper roll pass during multiple strand operation. After the switch comes the roughing section 14, The rst two stands of the roughing section are driven from `a motor 15V, while the next two .stands are driven from individual motors 16 and 17. The last live stands of the sec-tion are driven from a single motor 18, Following `the roughing section is a ilyingfshear 19, after which comes a back-shear table 20. The back-shear table is followed by a number of roll stands comprising the intermediate section 21; this section would be the finishing section if the product of the mill were merchant bar. The rst four stands of the intermediate section are in line and two are driven by a motor 22, while the other two are driven by a motor 23. These four stands feed into a repeater 24 at the other end of which is the fifth stand of the intermediate section .driven by an individual motor 25. This stand is followed by xanother 180 repeater 26 which serves the sixth stand of the intermediate section driven by an individual motor drive 27. Exactly in line with and on a level with the roll pass center of this last stand of the intermediate section is a runout table 28. Overlying the runout table in the portion thereof adjacent the said stand are two forward repeaters 29 and 30 whose exits are on opposie sides ai the runout table. Furthermore, the repeaters 29 and 30 areinclined upwardly, so that their exits are on a considerably higher level than the surface of the runout table 23. The repeaters 29 and 3i) are provided with a common insert 31 adjacent the last stand of the intermediate section 21. This insert is used when rod passes over the repeaters, but is removed during the production of merchant bar; when the insert is removed, the inclination of the repeater is such that the rear edge. of the remainder is considerably higher than the roll pass` level, so. that product is able to. run under the repeaters onto the runout table.

Laterally of the repeaters 29 and 30 are pouring reels 32. Near the outer end of the runout table 28 are a pair of rotary shears 33 and, of course, the runout table is eventually followed by a cooling bed, not shown.

On either side of the runout table 28, spaced from and at a slight inclination to its centerline, are rod-linishing sections 34 having their drives on the side away from the runout table. The passlines of the rod-linishing sections'are aligned with the discharge point of their respective repeaters. The rod-finishing sections discharge through the usual pipe lines to laying reels 35 which are arranged in groups of four, one group to each section of rod-nishing stands. The reels are arranged in lines which are parallel to the runout table 28 and they discharge onto elongated endless-belt conveyors 36 which are also parallel to the runout table 28 and extend rearwardly far enough to serve the pouring reels 32 and forwardly to a discharge point, not shown. A pulpit 37 is provided at a vantage point in the mill for the over-all control of the apparatus.

Referring next to Figure 2, it can be seen that rodnishing stands 38 are mounted a considerable distance on either side of the run-out table 28. Both are mounted on the foundation 39 in the usual manner, each finishing stand being mounted on a pair of upstanding abutments 40 which dene a sewer 41 therebetween. The runout table in the preferred embodiment comprises a pair of troughs 42 which are of trapezoidal cross-section having the base facing upwardly and opening in the same direction. These troughs are supported on an upstanding abutment 43 rising from the foundation and are flanked on either side by floor-supporting structure 44. Floor plates 45 extend from the nishing stands 38 to the outer edges of the troughs 42 and are supported by the stands, the troughs and the structures 44. A supplemental plate 46 overlies the troughs and forms with the plates 45 an unbroken surface from stand to stand.

In Figures 3 through 7 are shown certain details of the construction of the repeating apparatus, including the forward repeaters 29 and 30 and the insert 31. In Figure 3, the manner in which the insert 31 is separately and removably mounted from the other portions of the repeating apparatus is very clear. The rod grooves S0, 51, 52 and 53 are clearly shown; the grooves 50 and 51 extend along the surface of the repeater 29 after leaving the insert 31 and a guard fence 54 is provided to limit their movement along a looping table 55. The grooves 52 and 53 leave the insert 31 and extend across the repeater 30; a guard fence 56 is provided along the outer edge of a looping table 57. It will be understood that the grooves are on a level with the roll pass of the last rolling mill at their entrances on the insert 31, but that they rise to the level of the roll pass of the rod nishing mills 34 at their exits on the repeaters 29 and 30. The runout table 28 is well below this last-named level, as is evident from the drawing.

In Figure 4 it can be seen that special guides S8, 59, 60 and 61 are used at the exits of the grooves 50, 51, 52 and 53, respectively, A cross-section of the guide 58 is shown in Figure 7, and the guide consists of a base member 62 in which is mounted a removable guiding insert 63. The insert extends through an encircling portion 64 of the base member and is locked therein by means of a wedge 65. The construction of the insert 31 is shown in Figures 5 and 6 and the manner in which the grooves have been formed to guide the rod are indicated particularly clearly.

The operation of the apparatus of the invention will be evident from the above description. Billets are heated in the furnace 11 and are withdrawn therefrom by the pullout rolls 12. The front end of the billet is introduced into an empty pass by the switch 13 and it then passes through the roughing section 14. The billet then passes through the shear 19 which may be used to crop the front end and then passes over the back-shear table 20 to the intermediate section 21. In going through the section 21, the billet, which may have become a rod or bar by this time, is guided by the repeaters 24 and 26. Upon leaving the last stand of the intermediate section, the rod or bar has a choice of three paths. In some cases, it may be coiled in the laying reels 32 and ejected therefrom ontcthe conveyors 36. With the insert 31 of the repeaters 29 and 30 removed, bar may proceed through the troughs 42 of the runout table 28 and from there to shears 33 and a cooling bed. With the insert 31 in place, rod, usually two-strand, passes to a rodiinishing section 34 where it is reduced in size and nished. It then passes through the usual piping into the pouring reels 35, the coil being ejected onto the conveyor 36. It can be seen7 then, that there is an uninterrupted floor extending from one rod-finishing section to the other. This is particularly advantageous in changing and adjusting the rolls of the rod-nishing stands while rolling merchant bar which passes out of the mill along the runout table 23. Since the rolls of a rod inishing stand require constant attention to maintain the quality of the product, this ability of the mill to run constantly on either rod or bar without sacrifice in ability to roll either is a definite advantage in maintaining high output. It is, of course, necessary to work on the rod-tinishing stands from the side away from the drive, which drive is always on the outboard sides of the mill for many reasons; with the previously known arrangements, the only working space was that which existed between the roll stands and the runout table and there was constant danger of the workers falling onto the runout table with its dangerous, fast-moving bar. The present advantages are directly attributable to the use of a mill in which the rodfinishing stands are situated with their pass levels at a considerably higher level than the merchant bar runout table level. This in turn is possible only with the upwardly inclined yforward repeaters and the novel construction for taking care of the problem of introducing the rod or bar selectively to the repeaters or the runout table.

While certain novel features of the invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed iclaim, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

A repeater for receiving a plurality of rods or the like and separating said rods into diverse paths comprising a first level repeater section and a second level repeater section joined together in side by side relation, each repeater section having a looping table and guard fence, said repeater sections being disposed at different inclinations, an insert at the common entrance of said repeater sections having rod grooves leading from one end to each of said repeater sections at the other end thereof, said insert being inclined with said one end higher than the said other end, mating with said repeater sections, and being removable so that rods may bypass the repeater by passing underneath'the same when the insert is removed, and exit guides for each of said repeater sections to provide diverse separate exit paths.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 461,900 Allis Oct. 27, 1891 879,131 Gardner Feb. 11, 1908 1,267,839 Bernheim May 28, 1918 1,752,841 George Apr. 1, 1930 1,819,972 Resch Aug. 18, 1931 1,915,714 Bletso June 27, 1933 2,251,596 OMalley Aug. 5, 1941 2,607,460 Russell Aug. 19, 1952 

